Gallery of In Progress Projects

[Alisoun]

After I broke my only working machine and had a meltdown this morning, went to the repair shop twice this afternoon, then returned to the repair shop to buy a brand new machine (Brother Innov-is 950D)this evening, I managed to eek out the following sample for my husband's slops panes. We'll be doing [what I hope will be] an Italian impression for faire in just over a month.



That's a leaf pattern in green down the center, on top of red satin ribbon. It's bordered with silver, and the slops underlay will be green taffeta. The base is a black thin cotton corduroy. He'll be wearing the following shirt as well.



That was my first hand embroidery project. I have a lot to improve upon before the next one.

[Kathleen MacLeod]

Those both look great! I don't know what you think you have to improve on so much--I would've thought that blackwork was machine-done if you hadn't said anything 

[bellalye]

Howdy!

I am a major lurker, but I am really proud of my latest creation so I wanted to share it with y'all!

This costume is for my friend and is based off of the Cecily Mary Baker series of fairies. (seen here http://www.flowerfairyprints.com/ )  Since we are from Texas and she will probably wear the outfit to Scarborough, we picked the Indian Paintbrush for her flower.  Here's the sketch --

chemise and vest


just the chemise



The chemise is made of 100% cotton.  I made the "petal" part out of white kona cotton, which I then gradient/dip/ombre dyed.  The underskirt and neck band are made of green cotton "crinkle gauze."

My process:

1) Boil fabrics separately.  I wanted each fabric to shrink as much as possible, so I decided to boil them and then to iron while wet.
2) Cut out both the large and small petal shapes from the kona cotton.
3) Dye each petal then RINSE (for freaking EVER!), and then air dry.
4) Sew each individual vein (3 per petal) using irregular pin-tucks.  The tucks actually face the inside of the chemise, since the flower veins seem to point in rather than out.
5) Sew top portions of petals together, 11 for the body, 4 for each sleeve.  Since each petal is tapered at the top they formed a very nice gore effect.
6) Sew sleeves to dress (I used a very basic *lop off triangles at the top body corners and bottom sleeve corners* formula for this).
7) Sew a very fine zigzag around the open part of each petal, and around the armhole.
8 ) Sew the neckline channel of gauze, and feed elastic through it.
8 1/2) Re-dye the top of the dress green because I totally messed up and it ended up too yellow from the original dye bath.
9) Make a large rectangular tube of green gauze, and then attach it underneath the petal dress by hand. I sewed 2 knife pleats under each petal opening.  Oh, and btw - IT HAS A PINK POCKET IN THE SIDE SEAM!!!!  I am kinda excited.  
10) Hem with horsehair braid to make the underskirt flow.
11) Tie ribbon around the waist and CELEBRATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

***Interesting notes***
      - Though the kona kotton is decidedly non-stretch, the vertical irregular pintucks give the dress a fair amount of elasticity.
      - The underskirt will need a slip and/or bloomers - it is far too sheer right now.
      - I had to cut out a little piece under each arm in order to make the arm-raise more flexible.
      - The petals must be starched when ironed to make the petals float above the underskirt.

I purchased the fabrics on friday morning and finished the chemise at around 7 pm this evening.  Most of that time was spent dyeing, waiting for fabric to dry, and sewing zig zag stitches. 

Here are some pics (please excuse the horrible webcam quality).  






Wow, that was a VERY long post...  

[Kate XXXXXX]

Wow!  Lovely dye job!

[DonaCatalina]

That is a really cool effect. 

[operafantomet]

Bellalye, that's beautiful work! Do you have any more info/pics/tips on the dip-dye process?

[Syrilla]

I love the color/ dying.  Well done.

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

A lovely fairy to be! Huzzah to the dying process to get the desired effect!

I am in Pirate mode right now. Made 2 Vests, a shirt cut out, and 2 Pirate coats to make for a local client and his girlfriend. I am waiting on buttons I ordered from Pillaged Village to come in to finish one of the vests.

As well as finish up the Bathory project.

[LadyShadow]

Such a very lovely fairy. I sooooo want one now.

[bellalye]

Thanks y'all!

Operafantomet, I consider this my first real experience with dyeing (the only other time I have dyed fabric was with my washing machine and a box of Rit - not that hard or artistic), so I guess my first tip would be to go in prepared.  I spent 2 hours straight on-line researching how to achieve the look that I wanted, especially since I didn't even know the name of the process before I went it!  I found a really cute tutorial on dyeing silk play scarves with Kool-aid (which I may try next time), and realised that I wanted to dip dye my fabrics.  I then did searches on google for dip, ombre, and gradient dyeing until I found one that seemed simple enough to follow, here it is - http://lovecharlesvintage.blogspot.com/2009/09/how-to-dip-dye-wool-skirt.html .

I used the tutorial as a guide, rather than as a rule, and remembered other tips that I had read on-line.  I ended up making 3 dyebaths, 1 glass jar of light green (using 1/2 a package of iDye chartreuse), 1 small saucepan of dark green mixed with a tiny bit of light green (using 1/2 a package of iDye Poly Green), and 1 big stewpot of red (1 full package of iDye true red).  I boiled water for each with a whole bunch of salt, and dyed the petals in batches of 4 or 5.

I made certain to dye the chartreuse color first, since it was the lightest, then while that was still wet I overdyed the top with the dark green.  The mistake that I made here was that I left the fabric in the Chartreuse longer than I left it in the dark green, so it ended up shining through way too much and I had to redye it later on after I had assembled the garment.  I rinsed out the greens slightly in my kitchen sink so that they would not drip over everything while I was dyeing the red color.

As for the red, I soaked the very bottom of the petal for the longest time and gradually soaked higher and higher until I had a nice gradient coming along.  Finally, where the red meets the light green, I folded each petal in half and dipped the outer and inner edges of the folded item so that I had "peaks" of color on either side of the petal.  In order not to boil my skin off as I did this I used a long pair of tongs and a wooden spoon (which looks much prettier now ) .

The rinsing was the hardest part for me since I live in an apartment with no clothesline or hose.  I ended up lining up the petals in my bath tub and letting my shower run over them for a while.  I made sure to rinse all of the red parts of the petals together, and then to flip them over and rinse the green parts.  I dried the pieces in the sun, hooked and pinned over the fence out by the pool (getting several strange looks from my neighbours).

Another tip would be to pick dyes in whose color you are absolutely confident.  I knew I could trust the iDye to look like the package (a friend of mine uses it all the time for dyeing solids), but if you have used a particular dye before (like Rit)  and know what the color result is, you will feel more comfortable in playing fast and loose with other rules.

Last tip is to test dye on a scrap, and then to not lose all of that gorgeous color after you finish dyeing your product.  I ended up with a bright green chemise, gradient dyed cotton shawl, and a bunch of fuscia Muslin in addition to the petals before I was done.  I just couldn't bear to see all of that stuff go to waste.

Wow, see, this is why I lurke and don't post, I have diarrhea of the type.

[Lady Rebecca]

Bellalye, that is soo pretty! And thanks for the dip-dyeing tips!

[operafantomet]

...and now for something completely different...



A Masquerade cape, black satin fundament and spider web fabric on top, with sequined flowers and leafs. Believe it or not, there'll be a lot more decorations on this once I've tacked all loose threads and bits down...

[LadyStitch]

I took the plundge last night. I cut out and started sewing on the Fuzzlet's  baby pirate outfit.  The front is together, but I need to put the trim on the front edge.  Originally Pp wanted me to use the same marroon trim we put down the front of his coat but 1 inch wide is a little too wide for the the Fuzzlet.  we decided we are going to use the thin gold trim that we used to go NEXT TO his maroon trim to go down the front of her outfit.  I still need to install the lace that goes on the cuffs.  I honestly think it is takeing more time to add all the trims, then to actually sew the seams. LOL   Oh and I just need to put elastic in the matching bloomers.
I'll post pictures as soon as I can.

[DonaCatalina]

...and now for something completely different...



A Masquerade cape, black satin fundament and spider web fabric on top, with sequined flowers and leafs. Believe it or not, there'll be a lot more decorations on this once I've tacked all loose threads and bits down...

oooh luscious. I see an opera outing in your future...

[bellalye]

Operafantomet, that is too lovely!